New centre will host Caribbean special forces units, says Canadian general | Ottowa Citizen

Canada’s top special forces commander says a new centre just opened in Jamaica will be used to provide training for specialized units from around the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Special Tactics Centre or CSTC was officially opened at the Jamaica Defence Force Moneague Training Camp. The opening took place on March 26. Canada financed the project which cost around $2.5 million. “It will be a rally point for Caribbean special forces to come together,” Maj. Gen. Mike Rouleau, head of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, told Defence Watch. “It has a huge value for a modest injection of funds.”

The facility has instruction and team rooms for planning. Two courses have already been run out of the building, Rouleau said. That included a leadership course and a rappel master course.

The CSTC is geared at producing graduates highly skilled in advanced military tactics and techniques, Jamaica’s Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Rocky Meade, said in his opening remarks at the facility. “The centre will deliver advanced training and certification and facilitate knowledge exchange in security and defence proficiency to militaries and police forces with similar interests,” he added.

The main focus of CSTC will be on special tactics and operational readiness, Meade pointed out.